4 October 2010 Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

BAJODeveloper Beenox has been around for little while now, and has a huge resume full of ports, including a couple of spidermen ones for PC. Now they've been let loose on an original Idea with spider-man Shattered dimensions. And it's narrated by Stan Lee himself.

HEXThanks to Mysterio, a magical stone has been shattered and sent out to 4 different dimensions, each with their own version of spider-man. Madame web sends spidey out to reclaim the fragments from a huge variety of villians, who are drawn to their dark power.

BAJOIt's ambitious and exicting to have these 4 universes all together in one game. This spiderman is all about variety, in epic boss fights, diverse levels and what spidey can do. It's not an open world game like Spider-Man 2, so it's a bit of a shift to what we're used to.

HEXYeah, the swinging isn't crash hot to be honest... you can tap right trigger to quickly reach a highlight spot, or hold it down to swing normally... but you'll often be wrangling the camera to see where to go... and it just didn't feel as good or as responsive as other spider-man games... and you never really get used to it.

BAJOSwinging is pretty intergral spiderman so it's a shame that wasn't better.. I think It's mainly a symptom of a linear game so they have to trap spider-man in a box, which removes that freedom which is so important to the character. and it's not unplaybale like binoic commando 3D... and you know what Hex, I didn't actually care because shattered dementions isn't about swinging, it's a beatemup, and a fine one at that. The linear design allows for more interesting scripted moments, the game looks beautiful, and I just loved the combat, espeically in the noir universe, which focuses on stealth much in the way Batman Arkham Asylum did. You'll creep around separating goons from the heard, helping surviviors and quickly returning to the shadows when spotted.

HEXI knew you'd like noir -

BAJOit's a batman and spider-man lovechild.

HEXyeah I think It was my favourite too. You really feel like spider-man should in noir - strength will get you nowhere, you have to use your speed and zip about taking pot shots against tough enemies. Although spider-man 2099 looks great too, and has a bit of god of war 3 inpsiration. The boss fights do too actually - Each fight, including the first one, is multi-staged, unique and genuinely challanging.

BAJOI think some may find this style of each level repetitive Hex, but the areas and fights are so varied, not ONCE did I get bored in this game. The goons are all mixed up too, and it's a bit like xmen origins wolverine - you have to make your own fun and experiment with combat, if you don't it'll turn into a button masher for you. The fighting system is really quite elegant in some ways... left trigger locks onto an enemy and also lets you evade bullets. Spidey usually knows who you're trying to hit or throw, and wont waste your time punching air, which is a tough thing to get right with so many objects to interact with.

HEXSome of the movies, like the webzip evade get a little fiddly.. and sometimes spidey randomly teleports but you put up with it, and you can really get a rhythm going as you chain attacks between enemies.

BAJOThe unlock system is a mix of points and challenges. Each level has a set of unique challenges, and to be honest I usually ignore these in games, Hex because I just can't be bothered... I'm not a competist gamer... but here they're needed to unlock the next level of upgrades so there's incentive.

HEXYeah and you can track 3 of them at any time on your screen which is helpful, like a shopping list you have to complete while you're out. It's just enough to make you want to do them. What about the wall climbing Bajo?

BAJOArgg the camera! the wall climbing is just dreadful, you're always fighting the camera and it's particularly frustrating in noir, because you spend much of your time trying to line up those stealth kills from a spot on the wall... and you have to finesse it into very particular spot before he'll be able to do a stealth take down. There's not much logic too it... but Hex, once again - I didn't care.. It's not a deal breaker by any means and you don't have to do it THAT much..

HEXIt bugged me a fair bit... I liked the little senarios for each villian though, and there's a good selection each with their own beautiful cutscenes and the unlcoked concept art Is georgeous I think they could have done a bit of a better job with the story Bajo.. you understand why you're meant to get these fragments back.. but how each spidey is connected to each other isn't explained very well.

BAJOTrue.. but all of the spidey voice actors including Neil Patrick Harris have voiced spider-man before in some way or another, so for fans it'll be quite familiar. Hex even with the little annoyances, I STILL loved almost every bit of this...

At E3 this year we spoke to one of the developers about the game, and here's what he had to say.

BAJOHex, I'm a sucker for a even a half decent superhero game and this is my kind of thing.. naturally a big spidey fan will get more out of this, but I think it's only worth 8.5.

HEXI loved the way it masks loading with all the little first person linking scenes. it's a very solid spider-man game and a great length of 10 hours and an 8/10 from me.